Probing the conformation of 18S rRNA in yeast 40S ribosomal subunits with kethoxal

Yeast 40S ribosomal subunits have been reacted with kethoxal to probe the conformation of 18S rRNA. Over 130 oligonucleotides were isolated by diagonal electrophoresis and sequenced, allowing identification of 48 kethoxal-reactive sites in the 18S rRNA chain. These results generally support a secondary structure model for 18S rRNA derived from comparative sequence analysis. Significant reactivity at positions 1436 and 1439, in a region shown to be base paired by comparative analysis, lends support to the earlier suggestion [Chapman, N.M., & Noller, H.F. (1977) J. Mol. Biol 109, 131-149] that part of the 3'-major domain of 16S-like rRNAs may undergo a biologically significant conformational rearrangement. Modification of positions in 18S rRNA analogous to those previously found for Escherichia coli 16S rRNA argues for extensive structural homology between 30S and 40S ribosomal subunits, particularly in regions thought to be directly involved in translation.